Assignment 2: Proposal and Annotated Bibliography

English 110, Durst

Assignment 2: Proposal and Annotated Bibliography

The goal of Assignment 2 is to help you formulate an idea for the Researched Analysis Essay and to do some initial research that will help you compose your first draft of the essay.  Keep in mind that a proposal is a persuasive exercise: Your goal is to persuade me to approve your project by demonstrating that you have chosen a project that fits the assignment, that you have identified some analytical interest in the project, and that you have chosen useful and relevant secondary sources.

Proposal:

Write a 1-page double-spaced proposal in which you clearly explain what you plan to examine for your Researched Analysis Paper. In your proposal, you should describe:

• Your primary source: Explain what you have chosen to analyze and give a brief description.
• Your Research Questions and Motivation: Explain what questions you hope to answer in this research project and explain why you are interested in this particular project.
• Why your research is important:  Answer the “so what” question by explaining why readers should care about your project.

Annotated Bibliography:

Compose an annotated bibliography in which you list and summarize/evaluate at least three secondary sources that are relevant and useful to your project. Types of sources may include newspaper articles, scholarly articles, essays, book chapters, and web resources. An encyclopedia is not an appropriate source for the bibliography, but keep in mind that sources like Wikipedia do list references which may contain useful sources. You must have at least one scholarly, peer-reviewed source beyond those we may read in class. We’ll talk about what constitutes a scholarly source and how to find them during the library research workshop. You may use sources with which you don’t necessarily agree.  For example, you could identify claims you want to question or work against, as well as those you may agree with. And as mentioned, the minimum amount of sources is three, but I encourage you to use more.

• Begin each entry of your annotated bibliography by giving the source’s bibliographic data, formatted as if you were writing an MLA Works Cited entry.  Boldface this information and begin your summary and evaluation on the next line.  Entries should be arranged alphabetically according to the author’s last name.

• Under each bibliographic entry, write 2 paragraphs.  In the first paragraph, summarize the source as specifically as possible; make sure to give an overview of the source (what is the main point?) and then focus in on particular areas that will be useful in your essay.

• In the second paragraph, evaluate the source.  Explain why the source is useful/significant to your project (How will you use it? What questions will it allow you to ask? How will it help you analyze the primary text?)  As well, evaluate the credibility of the source, explaining who the author is and what relevant expertise they have.

Submission Process:

• Monday, 3/13: Bring a total of 4 copies of your draft to class. One copy will be taken up and read by me for your conference, and the other three will be used for peer review. Your draft should include your entire proposal, all three sources, and annotations for at least 2 sources.
• Wednesday, 3/22: Final, completed copy due in dropbox on OAKS by midnight (11:59 PM). Submit both the proposal and annotated bibliography as one

Criteria for Evaluation

An excellent proposal and annotated bibliography will demonstrate the following characteristics:

Proposal:

• Primary sources are clearly identified and described
• Your analytical interest in the primary is explained, and research questions are included
• The “so what” question is adequately addressed

Annotated Bibliography:

• The choice of secondary sources demonstrates that you have done sufficient research to choose sources that are most relevant and useful for your research questions and purposes.
• At least one source is a scholarly, peer-reviewed source that you found yourself
• Summaries of secondary sources are one paragraph in length and clearly and specifically identify the most significant or relevant elements or ideas in the texts.
• The second paragraph of annotation makes clear exactly how the writer will use the text to facilitate analysis of the primary sources and evaluates the source’s credibility
• The bibliographical references follow MLA citation style.

Overall:

• The document has been edited and proofread with care.
• Significant revision from the first draft to the last.